Sterling efforts at the Central Coast Section championships on Nov. 13 by girls teams from Monta Vista, Archbishop Mitty and Cupertino assured their spots in the Nov. 27 state meet at Fresno's Woodward Park.

Monta Vista repeated its second-place performance of 2003 in the CCS Division I race. Mitty was the team winner in the Division II contest, with Los Gatos second and Cupertino third. The King's Academy girls qualified by winning Division V. St. Francis, led by winner Ben Sitler, captured the Division II team crown. Saratoga's boys team earned a state berth by tying for third in Division III.

The top two CCS teams in Division I and the top three squads in the other divisions qualified. Also, up to six individuals from non-qualifying teams in each division gain state spots. Included in the latter group were Division I boys champion Kevin Schneider and Division III girls winner Alicia Follmar. MayC Huang of Lynbrook and Matthew Petrillo of Los Gatos also earned a trip to Fresno with strong showings in Division II races.

Led by junior Stephanie Cham (sixth place) and sophomores Lisa Worsham (ninth) and Angela Hsu (11th), Monta Vista placed second to Aptos. Cham covered the 3.0-mile course at Salinas' Toro Park in 19:09, 20 seconds ahead of Worsham and 45 ahead of Hsu. Cobbi Jones of Live Oak won the race in 18:30.

Juniors Judy Liang (28th) and Vanessa Shih (48th) and sophomores Rosa Ng (30th) and Carolyn Chuang (57th) all contributed to the Matadors' runner-up performance.

Tori Tyler (17:42) of Gunn captured the Division II girls race. She was followed by Mitty's McKayla Plank (18:24) and Renisha Robinson (18:35). Cupertino's one-two punch of sophomore Julianne Hansen (18:40) and freshman Sumika Shiokawa (18:50) were the next two to cross the finish line. Lynbrook's Huang was eighth in 19:09.

Cupertino's squad includes junior Kimberly Chew (28th), seniors Lisa William (30th) and Stacie Boyle (34th), freshman Melissa Gomez (33rd) and sophomore Patricia Lu.

Fremont junior Nikki Kinney was 40th out of 113 runners in Division I, and Lynbrook freshman Cindy Ju was 54th out of 102 in Division II.

Among the disappointed were Monta Vista's boys team. The Matadors, led by senior Jason Yow, finished sixth in the 17-team Division I competition.

Yow placed 12th in 16:20. Juniors Matt Paquet (16:39) and Scott Russell (16:54) finished 23rd and 26th.